596 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 355 



The graph of the temperature gradient 

 is given and compared with Ferrel's graph. 

 A density graph computed from the pres- 

 sure and temperature graphs is also given 

 and compared with Cottier's density graph 



V / P \^ 

 computed from the formula — = j — ) where 



Px Vi/ 



V has the experimental value 1.2. 



Attention is also called to the need of 

 more accurate and systematic data for the 

 determination of the temperature gradient 

 at altitudes from 5,000 to 20,000 meters. 

 John Zeleny, 



Secretary. 



THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOB THE AD- 

 VANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 



SECTION G, BOTANY. 



The Section met for organization on Mon- 

 day, August 26, at 11.30 a. m., with the 

 Vice-President, Mr. B. T. Galloway, in the 

 chair. The following were the officers for 

 the Denver meeting : 



Vice-President, B. T. Galloway. 



Secretary, E. A. Bessey (in absence of A. S. Hitch- 

 cock). 



Sectional Committee, Wm. Trelease, Vice-President 

 1900 ; D. T. MacDougal, Secretary 1900 ; B. T. 

 Galloway, Vice-President 1901 ; E. A. Bessey, Secre- 

 tary 1901 ; C. E. Bessey, C. L. Shear, Miss C. E. 

 Cummings. 



Member of General Committee, W. J. Beal. 



Member of Council, D. H. Campbell and L. M. 

 Underwood.* 



On Wednesday, August 28, in accord- 

 ance with the custom established at the 

 last New York meeting, Section G held a 

 joint session with the Botanical Society of 

 America, the officers of the latter taking 

 charge of the meeting. 



On Thursday evening the following were 

 chosen by the General Committee as Vice- 

 President and Secretary, respectively, for 

 the Pittsburg meeting, June, 1902 : D. H. 

 Campbell, Leland Stanford University, and 

 Hermann von Schrenk, Shaw School of 

 Botany. 



* Chosen to succeed D. H. Campbell after the 

 latter's early departure. 



The following is a complete list of the 

 papers presented. Abstracts are given 

 where furnished by the authors, except for 

 the papers presented at the joint meeting 

 with the Botanical Society of America, ab- 

 stracts of which will be published elsewhere 

 by the Secretary of that Society. 



1. 'Thermal Eelations of Plants': D. 

 T. MacDougal. (No abstract furnished.) 



2. ' Experiments with Lime and Solu- 

 tions of Formaldehyde in the Prevention of 

 Onion Smut ' : A. D. Selby. 



Onion Smut, Urocystis cepulce Frost, a soil- 

 infesting fungus, has become introduced into 

 soils devoted to the growing of onion sets 

 near Chillicothe, Ohio, and into those de- 

 voted to the growing of market onions about 

 Berea, Ohio. Certain results of experi- 

 ments made in 1900 at Chillicothe were 

 published in a bulletin (No. 122) of the 

 Ohio Experiment Station. These showed 

 decided advantages of quicklime applied to 

 the soil before seeding and of dilute solu- 

 tions of formaldehyde in water sprinkled 

 upon the seeds in contact with the soil, as 

 compared with flowers of sulphur, sulphur 

 and lime (in small quantities), and other 

 substances heretofore proposed for the pre- 

 vention of onion smut. More extended ex- 

 periments along these lines were conducted 

 both at Chillicothe and Berea during 1901. 

 The results from Chillicothe are now at 

 hand and show very gratifying smut pre- 

 vention and corresponding increase in the 

 yield of onion sets. All plots herein con- 

 sidered are 760 square feet in area ; results 

 are stated in actual and calculated yields. 



Plot. Treatment. Actual yield, Calculated yield 



lbs. per plot, per acre, bushels. 



I. Lime, 34 bu. per A. 121.6 174. 



II. " 70 " " " 152.0 217.5 



III. Formalin, .375% sol. 196.0 280.8 



IV. Nothing 92. (large sets) 131.8 

 V. Formalin, .75% sol. 202. 289.4 



VI. Lime, 125 bu. per A. 203. 290.8 



VII. " 70 " " " 

 and Formalin, .375%, 

 sol. 214. 306.5 



